Josh Warrington will defend his IBF featherweight title against mandatory challenger Luis Alberto Lopez, and Warrington will have home court advantage for the December 10 fight in Leeds, England.
Warrington vs Lopez will be broadcast live on DAZN.
Warrington (31-1-1, 8 KOs) vacated the IBF title rather than take a mandatory rematch with Kid Galahad, which led to Warrington facing Mauricio Lara in February 2021, which is where Lara opened up. He stepped in as one of the main contenders, stopping Warrington in the ninth round.
A rematch with Lara was stopped in a two-round no-decision that September thanks to a clash of heads, and then Warrington regained the IBF belt from Kiko Martinez, who had defeated Galahad, last March. It was Warrington’s second win over Martinez since they first met in 2017.
Lopez (26-2, 15 KOs) is not an easy mandatory challenger, and this is a legitimate fight. The 29-year-old Mexican is crafty and cunning, possesses some muscle and hasn’t lost since a 2019 decision to Ruben Villa, who is also a very good fighter.
Since then, Lopez has scored what were then considered upsets over Andy Vences and Gabriel Flores Jr at 130 pounds, and dominated Isaac Lowe in December 2021 at featherweight. He has had two stay busy type fights this year, stopping Raul Chirino and Yeison Vargas in four and two rounds, respectively, so he will be fit and ready.
